In Atlanta, Howard has found a coach in Mike Budenholzer who has challenged him to “get out of the box.” In Los Angeles and Houston, Howard would become frustrated over not receiving the same touches in the post that he was accustomed to receiving in Orlando, where he had his greatest career success. “Bud, he’s going to push me to the limit,” Howard told The Vertical. “He knows how to really communicate with me, as far as what he needs from me. Sometimes in life, we need people to hold us accountable. And as basketball players, we always have people that tell us what we want to hear. But when you have somebody that’s willing to tell you how it is, good, bad and ugly, those are the kind of people that you want around you.”

Following the Hawks’ 117-96 win over the 76ers Saturday night, I asked Howard for his thoughts about the team’s training and coaching staff. Here was his answer: “It’s the best,” Howard said. “It’s the best. So grateful to be in this situation. They’ve done an amazing job, the training staff, the coaching staff. Bud has done an amazing job. We have a growing relationship that has been great so far. We are really understanding each other. And it’s good. I love having him as a coach. From the first time I met him until now, we’ve had a great connection. We want to continue that. I love how he holds me accountable every single day to be the guy for the team to lead them in the right direction. When I’m not doing the right things, he is on me. When I am doing the right things, he pushes me to do more. It’s just a great feeling.”